Oakland's shocking win • Snow wreaking havoc in Detroit • Babysitter charged in 3-year-old's murder

FRIDAY NEWS HIT - Not a lot of experts or brackets had Oakland University advancing past the Kentucky Wildcats. After all, Greg Kampe and the Golden Grizzlies have never advanced to the round of 32.

Yet here they are - ready to play in the round of 32 for the first time in the team's history.It's an unlikely story for the Bears and OU coach Greg Kampe, in his 40th season with the team as he led his team to an 80-76 win over the Kentucky Wildcats.

In the past four decades, OU has won just one NCAA tournament game – an opening-round win over Alabama A&M before losing in the round of 64 to North Carolina.

Horizon League Player of the Year Trey Townsend had 17 points for Oakland. DQ Cole added 12, including a 3 from the corner with 28 seconds left that gave the Grizzlies a four-point lead. Oakland never trailed over the final 14:32 to send the Wildcats and coach John Calipari to another early tournament exit.

But they were largely propelled by Jack Gohlke – who drained ten 3-pointers and scored a career-high of 32 points.

"We’ve been a solid team all year," said Gohlke, who arrived at Oakland last fall after graduating from Hillsdale College. "We’ve won close games all year."

He made 10 of 20 3-point attempts, seven in the first half, to fall one short of Jeff Fryer’s NCAA Tournament record, set in 1990 for Loyola Marymount. Gohlke’s only other points came after he was fouled — while attempting a 3. Just another night for a player who appropriately wears No. 3 and had taken 335 shots from the field coming in, 327 of them from beyond the arc.

"It’s definitely a special thing, watching him just (make) 3 after 3 after 3," Townsend said. "It gives us momentum and excitement to keep playing hard."

The Golden Grizzlies (23-11, 15-5 HL) won its first-ever Horizon League Tournament title against Milwaukee, 83-76, for its fourth bid into the NCAA Tournament (2005, 2010 and 2011). The Golden Grizzlies were last a 14-seed during its run in 2010 as it fell in the first round against Pittsburgh. The Golden Grizzlies made its tournament debut as a 16-seed at the 2005 tournament, while its highest-seed coming in 2011 as a 13-seed.

Snow brings advisory, school closings

A winter weather advisory is in place for most of Metro Detroit as a snow system moves into Southeast Michigan

The flakes started flying around 5:15 Friday morning for most of Metro Detroit – and in the northern communities, it started to stick pretty quickly. It's leading to dozens of crashes reported across Metro Detroit – with freeways across the entire area slowing down.

Get location-based weather alerts on your mobile device by downloading the FOX 2 weather app and allowing notifications.

The snow is also leading to a large amount of school closings coming in. These are mostly in central and northern counties. Check the list of closings here.

Drivers should expect limited visibility for the commute to work with the heaviest stuff expected to be done by 8 a.m.

Babysitter charged in abuse, murder of 3-year-old

***WARNING: This story includes details of child abuse***

A 30-year-old woman was charged with felony murder and first-degree child abuse in connection to Harmoni Henderson's death.

Their parents, Paris England and Marquise Henderson, trusted the woman with their baby.

"I would never in one million years (think) she would do this to my baby," said Paris England, the victim’s mother. "Even if you think you trust the person, you can't."

Harmoni was just 3-years-old and had autism and was non-verbal.

This week, her dad Marquise Henderson had to read his daughter’s autopsy report.

"Blunt force trauma," Marquise said. "Blunt force trauma. A three year-old autistic baby."

England left Harmoni with Harris on Sunday at her home on Detroit’s west side. Harris reportedly locked Harmoni and her own 1-year-old in a bedroom so she could smoke weed with a friend for three hours, Harmony's parents said.

The suspect then allegedly got enraged after Harmoni threw up on herself, so she doused the child with scalding water on her face and head. Harris is also accused of violently killing the little girl. 

England said she video-called to check in and that Harmoni was still alive. Harris said the little girl fell down the stairs and bumped her head.

But when she got there the next morning, Harmoni was in bed, motionless.

"She was already dead from the moment that I got there," the mother said. "She was gone."

The parents were told that Harmoni died sometime overnight; 911 was never called.

Detroit police say Harris confessed to the crime.

Rashad Trice pleads guilty to kidnapping of Wynter Smith

Eight months ago, Wynter Smith was taken from her home in Lansing and later found murdered in Detroit. This week, the man who took her pleaded guilty to a federal charge of kidnapping.

Rashad Trice, 27, is facing numerous charges for kidnapping and killing the 2-year-old girl in the summer of 2023. He is set to plead guilty to kidnapping resulting in death. He faces up to life in prison for the crime.

He's set to formally plead guilty during a hearing later on Friday.

"Wynter was just so bright. I talked about how smart she was for such a young age," said the child's grandmother, Sharen Eddings.

The last eight months, since her granddaughter was killed, have been an emotional roller coaster, she said.

Authorities said Trice sexually assaulted and stabbed Wynter's mother before kidnapping the child on July 2, 2023 in Lansing. The kidnapping prompted an Amber Alert for Wynter.

Trice, who is not Wynter's father, was charged federally with kidnapping a minor and kidnapping resulting in death. After being charged federally, he could have faced the death penalty but the U.S. Attorney's Office did not seek this punishment.

Live on FOX 2

Daily Forecast

A snow system arrived in Metro Detroit Friday morning – but the good news is the snow won't last through the weekend.

What else we're watching

1. Wayne County formally gets keys to new Criminal Justice Complex (CJC) that was completed by Bedrock Detroit.
2. $60,000 in drugs, 8 guns seized in raids in Macomb and Wayne Counties led by local and federal authorities
3. The Judge who presided over the Larry DeLisle case says the man who killed his four kids by driving his station wagon into the Detroit River in 1989 is ‘basically a mass murderer’ and shouldn't be released.
4. Medical experts sound alarm on teen vaping as stats show close to 20% of teens have vaped.
5. Highland Park woman struggling with trash, pests due to neighbor's piling garbage and is asking for help in getting the city to get it cleaned up

Justice Department sues Apple in antitrust suit over monopoly on smartphones

The Justice Department is accusing Apple of engineering an illegal monopoly in smartphones that boxes out competitors and stifles innovation.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in New Jersey, alleges that Apple has monopoly power in the smartphone market and uses its control over the iPhone to "engage in a broad, sustained, and illegal course of conduct."

The lawsuit — which was also filed with 16 state attorneys general — is the latest example of the Justice Department’s approach to aggressive enforcement of federal antitrust law that officials say is aimed at ensuring a fair and competitive market, even as it has lost some significant anticompetition cases.

President Joe Biden has called for the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission to vigorously enforce antitrust statutes. The increased policing of corporate mergers and business deals has been met with resistance from some business leaders who have said the Democratic administration is overreaching, but it’s been lauded by others as long overdue.